The International Trade Secretary says he expects to have agreements in place long before the end of the transition period.

By Alan McGuinness, Political Reporter in Manchester

21:14, UK,Sunday01October2017

Image:Dr Fox said Britain would be a much more agile trading country after Brexit

Britain expects to have free trade deals on the table long before the end of the Brexit transition period, according to a senior minister.

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International Trade Secretary Liam Fox was bullish about the prospects of reaching agreements in time for the end of the implementation period, which is expected to come into effect in March 2019.

Prime Minister Theresa May used her keynote Brexit speech in Florence last month to further flesh out her vision for leaving the EU, including a transition period of two years to allow firms to prepare.

When asked at a Conservative party conference fringe event if Britain would be in a position to have trade agreements ready to enforce at the end of this process, Dr Fox said: "We expect to have draft agreements long before that with a number of countries.

Video:September - Fox: We need open and liberal trading

"We want the EU transitional ones done by 2019 and then at that point we want to see the United States, Australia and New Zealand which are the priority ones."

Dr Fox also addressed the trade dispute between rival aerospace firms Boeing and Bombardier, with the minister saying: "This is basically a US-Canada dispute. Our view is it would be much better if it is settled between those and it doesn't move forward."

The US has hit Canadian firm Bombardier with a punitive import duty of nearly 220% on a new model of passenger jet, the wings for which are made in Northern Ireland, threatening thousands of jobs there.

Dr Fox said the dispute, which centres around claims Bombardier received unfair state subsidies, was a "long way from resolution".

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When asked if he was striking a different tone to Cabinet colleagues who have threatened retaliation against Boeing, Dr Fox said the Government would "make the appropriate noises in the appropriate places and they won't always be the same noises in the same place".

Video:July - Fox: Transitional Brexit plan is common sense

Dr Fox also criticised the media for what he viewed as talking down Britain in the Brexit negotiations, saying the UK would become a much more agile trading country once it severs ties with Brussels.

Britain will have the opportunity to negotiate its own bespoke free trade deals with countries around the world.

The UK can hold talks with other countries to lay the groundwork for post-Brexit free trade deals, but it cannot officially sign them until it has left.